WinInfo Short Takes, June 22, 2012

If you’ve been following Microsoft for as long as I have—19 years so far, in my case—you’re painfully aware that the company’s biggest moments are in the past. Windows 95 springs instantly to mind, though I often point to PDC 2003—and the introduction of Longhorn—as the real high point, from an excitement standpoint. But then this week happened. Between a fascinating next-generation Xbox leak, the surprise Microsoft Surface announcement (see my photo gallery), and the Windows Phone 8 unveiling on Wednesday (here, here, here, and here), this might just have been the biggest week in Microsoft news ever. Ever. I honestly can’t remember a time this momentous in all the years I’ve been writing about the software giant. It’s sort of thrilling to see that happen again.

Microsoft Surface Brings Out the Crazies. Hell, Yeah!

Monday’s Microsoft Surface announcement triggered something else I’ve not seen—in this case, not ever! Suddenly, there are Windows enthusiasts everywhere, akin to the Mac crazies and Linux nut jobs that scour the Internet looking for critical comments about their favorite respective companies and products. People on the other side of the technological fence have often claimed that there were Windows advocates just as there were advocates for other platforms, most likely in a bid to justify their own misguided adventures. But it’s not true: Those who back Windows, such as that is, have always taken a far more common-sense/logical standing than the emotionally driven enthusiasts of other platforms. My own situation is very much in keeping with this trend: I think of myself as a supporter of Windows users, or the people who use Microsoft’s platforms. I’m not a cheerleader, ever, and I can be as harsh about Microsoft’s mistakes as I am positive about their successes. You just don’t see a lot of that in the Mac world, sorry, and that’s always been the difference. Until now, maybe. My plainspoken criticisms of the unknowns of the Surface—and there are many, including many I didn’t mention—has triggered a wonderful knee-jerk reaction from the normally quiet world of Windows users, many of whom are apparently tired of being stepped on and prodded by Mac, iOS, and Android users. Well, bravo to you folks, and it’s nice to see a bit of life out there for a change. This, too, suggests that Microsoft’s Surface, despite its many obvious issues, is the “right” thing, a good move, since it’s triggering the same emotional response that’s normally reserved for every single product Apple announces, no matter how evolutionary. I like it.

Microsoft Issues Legal Takedown Order for Next-Gen Xbox Presentation

Just in the case there was any doubt that the next-generation Xbox leak over last weekend was real—I wrote about it exhaustively in Next Generation Xbox Preview if you’re curious—this latest news should drive home the fact that it is: Microsoft’s lawyers have spent the past week issuing legal takedown orders around the globe, trying to prevent the publication and dissemination of the presentation. In the Czech Republic, for example, a Microsoft legal document refers to the presentation as its “copyrighted work,” and DropBox revealed that it, too, was prevented from hosting the presentation by Microsoft. It’s real, folks. So go read Next Generation Xbox Preview and find out more!

Rumor Busting: Microsoft Is NOT Making Its Own Smartphone

Unless, of course, the company is lying to me. Meeting with the Windows Phone team earlier this week, just days after Microsoft’s Surface tablet announcement, a fairly obvious question sprung to mind. So I simply asked, "Will Microsoft be making its own Windows Phone handset, similar to how its making its own tablet?" No, I was told point-blank: Microsoft’s partnership with Nokia gives it the equivalent chance to show what a perfect blend of hardware and software can be, so a Surface phone isn't happening. Of course, instead of just asking Microsoft, one could simply speculate—which is exactly what an analyst from Nomura (whatever that is) did this week. “Our industry sources tell us that Microsoft may be working with a contract manufacturer to develop [its] own handset for Windows Phone 8,” the analyst wrote in a nicely qualified note to “clients” (read: the press). “It is unclear to us whether this would be a reference platform or whether this may be a go-to market Microsoft-branded handset.” Ah. It’s the former. Moving on.

Nokia Tosses a Bone to Lumia 900 Owners

Everyone using a current-generation Windows Phone handset probably feels a bit slighted by the well-telegraphed fact that Microsoft won't be supporting upgrades to Windows Phone 8. And while the coming Windows Phone 7.8 upgrade, which offers just the Start screen from Windows Phone 8 to current handsets—has appeased about half that crowd, some are still upset. And none more so than Nokia Lumia 900 owners, who purchased the latest flagship Windows Phone within the past 2 months, often expecting (illogically, but whatever) that at least they would be pulled along to Windows Phone 8. Well, Microsoft might be leaving Lumia 900 owners high and dry, but Nokia isn’t. As part of this week’s Windows Phone Summit, Nokia announced a stunning set of new apps and app upgrades aimed at making Lumia 900 (and other Lumia model) owners happy during the months ahead. And most of these will be shipping just days from now, though app availability is spotty, depending on where you live. New apps include Camera Extras, which provides new camera features like group shot, action shot, panorama, and self-timer; Contact Share, for sharing contacts via SMS or email; Counters, a data/voice usage monitor; a PlayTo DLNA streaming app; and, later this fall, Zynga’s hugely popular Words With Friends and Draw Something games. And most of Nokia’s existing Windows Phone apps—many of which are excellent—are getting big updates too. Those with lower-end Lumia 710 or 800 phones are getting Internet sharing, Flip-to-Silence, and media streaming features, plus an update that enables the new apps listed above. Good stuff? Absolutely.

My Windows Weekly cohost Mary Jo Foley reports this week that Microsoft is killing off the free Office Starter edition, which debuted in Office 2010 as a way for new PC buyers to get a taste of its office productivity suite, along with a handy electronic way to pay for more functionality. (Office Starter 2010 provides stripped-down versions of just Word and Excel.) According to Foley, Microsoft will offer its online-hosted Office Web Apps, also free, but in some ways more complete—it offers web-based PowerPoint and OneNote apps, too—to PC makers. Presumably, the Office 15/2013 version of Office Web Apps will be dramatically improved—and maybe even offer offline support—to make this move possible. Since Foley’s report, Microsoft has confirmed the change. “We will begin to phase out the shipment of PCs with Office Starter 2010,” a Microsoft representative says. “After Windows 8 becomes available, most new PCs shipped will not have Office Starter. People who use Office Starter 2010 today will continue to be able to use the product for the life of their PC. For Windows7/Office Starter 2010 users who want to upgrade their PC to Windows 8 and continue using Office Starter 2010, they will have to install an update to Microsoft Office 2010, which is available today.”

Google CEO Larry Page Loses His Voice

Google CEO Larry Page is begging out of his company’s IO conference this week, claiming that he lost his voice. To be clear, Google has never had its own voice. Just saying.

Listen to Paul. No, Really Listen. Or Watch. Or Both!

Andrew Zarian and I recorded the latest episode of the What The Tech podcast on Tuesday, right after I arrived in San Francisco for the Windows Phone Summit. But we had to delay the normal Thursday record time for Windows Weekly because of my travel, so Leo Laporte, Mary Jo Foley, and I will record the latest episode podcast today (Friday) at 3pm ET. As always, these episodes should be available soon, generally in both audio in video formats, on the web, and via iTunes, the Zune Marketplace, and wherever else quality podcasts are found. You can also find all of my podcast activities on the SuperSite for Windows.

The Paul Thurrott Mobile App: Is That a Paul in Your Pocket?

The Paul Thurrott: Pocket Tech app is now available for both the iPhone and Windows Phone, bringing all of my technical content to your favorite mobile device in a fun, on-the-go format. We'll have an Android version available soon as well, I'm told. And who knows? A Windows 8 app would make plenty of sense too. Download for Windows Phone - Download for iPhone

Paul should be careful what he wishes for. Fervant fans come out when a platform is threatned rather than when it's dominant. It's easy to be quiet and blasé when you enjoy a 90% market share. When your share is in single digits things tend to get a little more defensive. Microsoft used to enjoy a comfortable place in phones behind RIM and Symbian had the tablet market all to themselves. Apple and Google has crushed the life out of Microsoft's phone and tablet market and between them own near the same share in mobile that Microsoft had on the desktop. Paul may like the resurgant fan enthusiasm, I don't think he's going to like the single digit market share that comes with it.

Regarding "obsolete" platforms...I'll repost something that I posted the other day, because I feel it is relevant here. If one method is causing a device to become obsolete, the other must be as well.
Is there really much difference between Microsoft's and Apple's OS upgrade availability?
One of them is not making the next version of th OS available for currently sold phones, but is updating the current OS to add some features that the next OS includes.
The other is making the next OS available to the currently shipping phone models, but is removing some features that may not perform as well.

@infiniteloop:
"And you're right there with me. Except that, if you don't find this fun, why are you doing it?"
Acutally, I'm not. I'm not posting links on a Friday night and calling it "fun".
"A Tech journalist openly depriving himself of Best in Class Tech."
Knowledge of proper nouns aside, "Best in Class" is still subjective. iOS didn't do what I needed it to do on the phone, which is why I upgraded to a Windows Phone.

Is there really much difference between Microsoft's and Apple's OS upgrade availability?
One of them is not making the next version of th OS available for currently sold phones, but is updating the current OS to add some features that the next OS includes.
The other is making the next OS available to the currently shipping phone models, but is removing some features that may not perform as well.
Both ways are going to have the same outcome - fragmentation. At least neither is doing what HP did with WebOS...yet.

@tayme:
Don't confuse infiniteloop with the facts. His mind's already made up.
The main difference is that Microsoft's decisions are based on hardware issues. Apple is simply choosing not to put features on older hardware because they're trying to sell more phones. Siri is a perfect example of this - worked just fine on existing iPhones until Apple bought it. Now it'll only work on the iPhone 4S.

Bitterness is setting in with Paul,
http://www.winsupersite.com/article/commentary/june-2012-143518
"Lots of changes in a short time, thanks in part to an overdue decision to remove Apple products from my home"

Funny stuff in the section about "the Crazies". Yes, there are many Windows enthusiasts. They don't seem as loud as the Apple enthusiasts in most cases. I consider myself a technlogy enthusiast...favoring neither company. Pick the product that meets the need and move on. If the need can be met by more than one product, choose the one that fits your budget and/or your desires. It really is that simple.
Regarding Microsoft not making their own phone...by mid 2013, my guess is that they will own Nokia - thus making a phone.
Enjoy your weekend, everyone.

"This, too, suggests that Microsofts Surface, despite its many obvious issues, is the right thing, a good move, since its triggering the same emotional response thats normally reserved for every single product Apple announces, no matter how evolutionary. I like it."
Really? Reactions like this:
"I love the Surface. And thats true even though I know very little about it. At a top-secret press event in Los Angeles on Monday, I was allowed to spend only about 90 seconds with Microsofts new tablet device. Even that brief time was circumscribed. I was only permitted to touch the device while the machine was powered off."
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2012/06/microsoft_surface_is_this_the_ipad_rival_the_tech_world_desperately_needs_.html
If a Mac site put up something that idiotic, Paul would (deservedly) rip them a new one.
The other bit that is important to remember about the Surface is the perennial confusion of present and future tenses when comparing Microsoft and Apple products:
"Its amazing how future Microsoft products beat current Apple products time and time again, isnt it?"
Yah, it is. When the thing ships, let's compare shipping products and see how THAT goes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/25/technology/companies/with-tablet-microsoft-takes-aim-at-hardware-missteps.html?pagewanted=1&hp
" Around the time the iPad came out more than two years ago, Microsoft executives got an eye-opening jolt about how far Apple would go to gain an edge for its products.
Microsoft learned through industry sources that Apple had bought large quantities of high-quality aluminum from a mine in Australia to create the distinctive cases for the iPad, according to a former Microsoft employee involved in the discussions, who did not wish to be named talking about internal matters.
The executives were stunned by how deeply Apple was willing to reach into the global supply chain to secure innovative materials for the iPad and, once it did, to corner the market on those supplies. Microsofts executives worried that Windows PC makers were not making the same kinds of bets, the former employee said.
The incident was one of many over the last several years that gradually pushed Microsoft to create its own tablet computer, unveiled last week. The move was the most striking evidence yet of the friction between Microsoft and its partners on the hardware side of the PC business."
Telling.

What's really telling is that the thing Microsoft presented didn't work.
Sinofsky was left scrambling for another device as the one he was holding crashed in the middle of his presentation.
On top of that, nobody has been allowed to use the thing or its flimsy keyboard.
No pricing. No shipping date. No software. No Ecosystem. No availability. No sim cards.
Telling indeed.

@Meh
"Still curious - where's the negative links about Apple?"
You are already at one. Paul is always negative on Apple.
Another source is anything written by Rob Enderle.
Also whenever another variant of a Mac trojan turns up (about half a dozen a year), Ed Bott writes about 20 articles about how the sky is falling and how the Mac is about to face a tsunami of malware.
All these bloggers have one thing in common, they are almost always wrong about anything Apple.
@tayme
"Regarding Microsoft not making their own phone...by mid 2013, my guess is that they will own Nokia - thus making a phone."
I think MS will get Nokia pretty cheap too.

"Yes, there are many Windows enthusiasts. They don't seem as loud as the Apple enthusiasts in most cases."
Wait,,,, tayme blindly defending Paul's stance.. that never happens.
Arguing which company enthusiast is louder or more fervent a pointless effort as there is no way empirically know such a thing. Claims to the contrary do nothing but reveal he bias of the person making such claims.

@Meh - I wonder why this one didn't get posted with some comment such as, "Oh dear".
http://iphone.appleinsider.com/articles/12/06/24/nyt_profiles_apples_retail_stores_says_employees_are_short_on_pay.html

"Im not a cheerleader, ever, and I can be as harsh about Microsofts mistakes as I am positive about their successes." Risible.
If Microsoft persist in attempting to be everything to everyone, they will end up being nothing to anyone. The consumer business is done much better by many others (Apple an outstanding example). By attempting to make Windows 8 work on every platform, it is possible that they will fail at all levels. Every business has to have core focus, and I am afraid that Microsoft has lost theirs.

Re: Swap "Microsoft" for "Apple"...
On the specific point of Paul's (apparently ideological only) decision to remove all Microsoft products from his home, he has repeatedly described Microsoft TV as the best available media streaming device for the living room. However, ideology trumps tech when it's Microsoft.
That's the essence of fanboism, albeit polarity reversed; it's his unreasoning, irrational hatred of all things Microsoft (and all who use Microsoft products).
Yeah. That really makes sense.

"Regarding Microsoft not making their own phone...by mid 2013, my guess is that they will own Nokia - thus making a phone."
Completely agree. Gruber has posted something along these lines. The only sensible thing I can see in the Windows 8 phone "strategy" is that Microsoft might be able to pick up Nokia at a fire sale price.

"This, too, suggests that Microsofts Surface, despite its many obvious issues, is the right thing, a good move, since its triggering the same emotional response thats normally reserved for every single product Apple announces, no matter how evolutionary. I like it."
Really? Reactions like this:
"I love the Surface. And thats true even though I know very little about it. At a top-secret press event in Los Angeles on Monday, I was allowed to spend only about 90 seconds with Microsofts new tablet device. Even that brief time was circumscribed. I was only permitted to touch the device while the machine was powered off."
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2012/06/microsoft_surface_is_this_the_ipad_rival_the_tech_world_desperately_needs_.html
If a Mac site put up something that idiotic, Paul would (deservedly) rip them a new one.
The other bit that is important to remember about the Surface is the perennial confusion of present and future tenses when comparing Microsoft and Apple products:
"Its amazing how future Microsoft products beat current Apple products time and time again, isnt it?"
Yah, it is. When the thing ships, let's compare shipping products and see how THAT goes.

@Meh - For as much as some of these people complain about and poke fun at Paul (and in most cases, rightfully so) they sure do like to mimic his style. I find that strange, but funny. Most of them know nothing about IT, but instead are driven to prop Apple up that they are incapable of pointing out the shortcomings of the company or its products.

@reunson:
I was asking infiniteloop why he doesn't post negative links about Apple. I wasn't looking for other bloggers.
However, as far as Paul goes, I'd point out he's at least capable of saying negative things about Microsoft. The other fanboys around here....

@infiniteloop:
"Perhaps you could explain to me exactly why I should?"
I don't know why you should. Of course, I also don't know why you feel the need to post only links that are either pro-Apple or anti-Microsoft. What are you trying to prove? That you can peruse reddit? And why nothing that's anti-Apple or pro-Microsoft?

"This, too, suggests that Microsofts Surface, despite its many obvious issues, is the right thing, a good move, since its triggering the same emotional response thats normally reserved for every single product Apple announces, no matter how evolutionary. I like it."
Concerning the Surface tablets and excitement surrounding them, I think that it's important not to lose sight of the fact that Microsoft is NOT operating from a position of strength here. On the contrary, this is a desperation move which is a symptom of big problems in the whole Microsoft tablet effort. If Microsoft and its partners had been functioning on all cylinders concerning tablet development, then there would never have been the need for Microsoft to come out with its own tablet. Microsoft is operating from a position of extreme weakness and Surface is a last-ditch "Hail Mary" pass to try to get back into the tablet game. If Surface and Windows 8 don't pan out, then Microsoft will have completely lost out to Apple and others in the new era of tablets and mobile computing. Microsoft knows that and knows that Surface and Windows 8 are its last hopes.

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